Bart
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Retro Rider
- Posts: 309
- Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2014 4:03 am
- Location: Washington State
Re: Bart
This is a tough one. I knew Bart had been ill for some time ... he was always a class act. One of my first football books was Winning Football by Bart Starr (1968). R.I.P. Bart. Highlights from his final appearance in Green Bay in 2017:
https://youtu.be/4o5W_1w_yuY
https://youtu.be/4o5W_1w_yuY
Last edited by Retro Rider on Mon May 27, 2019 11:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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74_75_78_79_
- Posts: 2395
- Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:25 pm
Re: Bart
Many are chiming in about him. Gil Brandt on NFL Network just made some great comments on him. So has Aikman, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, etc.
What Starr was a bigger fixture on the '60s, he or Ringo? Likely a stalemate answer!
Bart WAS the '60s! He looked like the '60s!
I made a recent-enough post asking if maybe he was actually better than Unitas after all. Whether yay or nay...
RIP
What Starr was a bigger fixture on the '60s, he or Ringo? Likely a stalemate answer!
Bart WAS the '60s! He looked like the '60s!
I made a recent-enough post asking if maybe he was actually better than Unitas after all. Whether yay or nay...
RIP
Re: Bart
74_75_78_79_ wrote: I made a recent-enough post asking if maybe he was actually better than Unitas after all. Whether yay or nay...
The correct answer is nay but it’s no insult to say Starr was the second or third best (Jurgensen?) QB of his era.
Re: Bart
It all depends on where you choose to set the bar. Allan Barra, in his book That's Not the Way it Was, goes to some lengths to demonstrate that Starr was better than Unitas.
I can't say whether he was or wasn't. Unitas was probably more exciting to watch and a more interesting character. One could claim that Starr would have been nowhere without Lombardi. As with Brady and Belichick, both were amazingly fortunate to have been put together.
Yet, if you go by championships won, five will always be more than two (or three, if you count SB5). If that's your criterion, Starr is the QB of his era.
I can't say whether he was or wasn't. Unitas was probably more exciting to watch and a more interesting character. One could claim that Starr would have been nowhere without Lombardi. As with Brady and Belichick, both were amazingly fortunate to have been put together.
Yet, if you go by championships won, five will always be more than two (or three, if you count SB5). If that's your criterion, Starr is the QB of his era.
Re: Bart
The classic line from The Best Ever Quarterbacks film is something to the effect of, “While many quarterbacks are compared to John Unitas, Unitas is never compared to anyone else.” Nuff said.
As great and successful as he was, I have never seen Bart mentioned as a candidate for Mount Rushmore. I have also never seen Unitas being left off.
As great and successful as he was, I have never seen Bart mentioned as a candidate for Mount Rushmore. I have also never seen Unitas being left off.
Re: Bart
The last one is my pick.JohnH19 wrote:74_75_78_79_ wrote: I made a recent-enough post asking if maybe he was actually better than Unitas after all. Whether yay or nay...
The correct answer is nay but it’s no insult to say Starr was the second or third best (Jurgensen?) QB of his era.
Re: Bart
I think I mentioned this in a long-ago thread about Starr, but I would say of all the players and/or coaches in NFL History, I would have been most honored to have had Bart Starr as my next-door neighbor. Just a wonderful, kind, thoughtful, smart and generous man - by every account I ever read.
Wondering if anyone on the Forum can corroborate some of these things I think I remember reading and/or seeing:
-- Paul Hornung said something like on throws 30 yards or less, Bart Starr was the most accurate QB ever.
-- Vince Lombardi was once asked something about the buttonhook pattern, which he said was the one pattern Starr either couldn't throw accurately or really didn't like throwing it.
-- In the video broadcast of the 1961 NFL Championship game, Starr takes off from the pocket on a run where he shifted and darted around the middle of the field, showing more speed and athleticism that you would ever imagine from all the slow-motion NFL Films footage. I believe that play was actually called back due to a penalty however.
-- In the book "America's Quarterback" by Keith Dunnavant, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I still get inspired by what Starr said that Lombardi said to the team after the 1960 NFL Championship loss. The quote was something like "He told us the tragedy wasn't that we lost, the tragedy was that we didn't believe we were good enough to win. That will never happen again." Something about that really resonated with me, and I've used that as inspiration to propel myself forward through several personal challenges over the years. Always believe in yourself. Always.
As a fan, I just feel grateful to have been lucky enough to have the influence of Bart Starr in my life, and to try my best to pass along some of the qualities he showed me to others.
Wondering if anyone on the Forum can corroborate some of these things I think I remember reading and/or seeing:
-- Paul Hornung said something like on throws 30 yards or less, Bart Starr was the most accurate QB ever.
-- Vince Lombardi was once asked something about the buttonhook pattern, which he said was the one pattern Starr either couldn't throw accurately or really didn't like throwing it.
-- In the video broadcast of the 1961 NFL Championship game, Starr takes off from the pocket on a run where he shifted and darted around the middle of the field, showing more speed and athleticism that you would ever imagine from all the slow-motion NFL Films footage. I believe that play was actually called back due to a penalty however.
-- In the book "America's Quarterback" by Keith Dunnavant, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I still get inspired by what Starr said that Lombardi said to the team after the 1960 NFL Championship loss. The quote was something like "He told us the tragedy wasn't that we lost, the tragedy was that we didn't believe we were good enough to win. That will never happen again." Something about that really resonated with me, and I've used that as inspiration to propel myself forward through several personal challenges over the years. Always believe in yourself. Always.
As a fan, I just feel grateful to have been lucky enough to have the influence of Bart Starr in my life, and to try my best to pass along some of the qualities he showed me to others.
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RRMarshall
- Posts: 279
- Joined: Wed Apr 05, 2017 2:12 pm
Re: Bart
Starr's biography that came out after SB I was the first football book I can remember reading from my youth. it is a shame his name is never brought up when the discussion of great QBs comes up. He was absolute money in the big games, and if today's criteria of winning it all counts the most for a QB, his resume is pretty tough to beat. His performances in back-to-back postseason games in 1966, the NFL title game at Dallas and Super Bowl I vs KC were unsurpassed in his era. He won four NFL completion percentage titles and if not for 2 injury-riddled campaigns his last 2 seasons would have finished with a 60% completion rate for his career which is impressive for the era. Surprisingly he never threw for 20 TD passes in a season, but the Packers were a run-dominated offense (Lombardi Power Sweep) and scored more on the ground than through the air. Still a remarkable career...